13 Undercover keeps heat on the watchdog

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Did 13 Undercover break up a slush fund at a local constable's office? We have some documents that the county attorney didn't want you to see.

Vince Ryan says you're his number one client, yet he spends your money to keep you from seeing what his office discovered when it investigated the constables.

But he couldn't keep it all secret from us.

"Is the end game protecting Victor Trevino?" we asked Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan.

"Of course not," he said.

It was a year ago this month when 13 Undercover started asking where all your money went -- like the thousands in cash Trevino's office collected every year when it served those vacate notices on tenants.

"In vacate money?" Trevino asked us.

"Yes sir. That's twenty bucks a head; you get there pretty quick," we replied.

"I have not seen that," he said.

At times, Trevino's office was even using on-duty deputies in county patrol cars to help get the cash.

So we told the county attorney's office.

"But I can tell you we're looking at it. We will get back to you on that one. That's a serious issue," First Assistant Harris County Attorney Terry O'Rourke told us then.

A year later we are still waiting, even though documents we now have prove Vince Ryan's office had key evidence as early as last September about the cash and where it was going. And it was the very first constable commander they talked to: "Chief C. Lopez stated the money was collected and given to the constable," used for office supplies and staff lunches.

We then tried to show the watchdog what Chief Lopez told investigators when she talked to them again in February of this year.

"I'd have to read this whole page, so unless..." Ryan said.

"Go ahead, we've got time," we said.

"Well I, unfortunately, have a 3:30 appointment," he said.

We waited, but here's the highlight: Carolyn Lopez told investigators, "We used to have a slush fund but we don't have that anymore."

Was she talking about the vacate money?

A year ago, we had questioned the constable about the very same thing.

"So you have your employees out there in the heat, delivering vacate notices for free so everybody here could go to lunch in the administrative office? Is that fair?" we had asked Trevino.

"Well obviously, like I said, I know that in my 23 years, my commitment has been to providing good public service. Whether I've become lax, that's obvious," he said.

They don't have that vacate money anymore.

"Only after you started investigating did this slush fund go away. It didn't go away, it dried up," Texas Watchdog Editor Trent Siebert said.

The dictionary says a slush fund is "an unregulated fund often used for illicit purposes," but not to your watchdog.

"It sounds like she is talking conversationally," Ryan said.

We had asked Victor Trevino 15 months ago where we could find receipts for how they spent the cash.

"Where did that money go?" we asked Trevino.

"It was used here for the office or for the charity," he said.

CARE was the charity Victor Trevino founded and ran out of his county office. If he had records of giving money to charity, he sure didn't give them to us.

"Do you have records of donating it to the charity?" we had asked Trevino.

"There may be some. There may be some records. I know that we ... there's none?" he said.

Victor Trevino has refused for a year to give us all the financial records from the charity. Neither the county attorney or the district attorney has made him. The charity is now closed.

"I am stepping down because I know something ain't right," Pct. 6 Captain Tyrone Berry said on our hidden camera.

Pct. 6 Captain Tyrone Berry is still a commander but resigned as the charity treasurer last year after we asked to see the records.

We've already have told you some of the charity's checks were cashed at convenience stores, with no paper trail of where the money went.

"Reluctantly I signed blank checks because I was instructed to do so," Berry said.

Now Captain Berry's lawyer claims some of those checks with his signature were forged.

"He feels like a victim?" we asked Berry's attorney, Richard Cobb.

"Oh, he not only feels it, in my opinion he is a victim," Cobb replied.

But that's not news to Vince Ryan's office. We know that based on notes from Captain Berry's interview with Ryan's investigators several months ago, quoting "I never authorized anyone to sign my name."

But what did Ryan's office do with all that evidence? Who knows. Even the district attorney has not seen the final investigative report from Ryan's office. But now some of the documents Ryan wanted to keep secret are out there for all voters to see.

"It's there in black and white. This cuts open Precinct 6 and cuts open the county attorney's office," Siebert said.

You know how many folks Vince Ryan has sought to punish at Precinct 6 after all these revelations for a year? None. You know how much he's sought to get back for you? Zero.

So we'll keep the heat on the watchdog, Friday night at 10.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more 13 Undercover »

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13 Undercover probe will follow badge, money

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The grand jury investigating eastside Constable Victor Trevino may finish it's work next week. But whatever happens, taxpayers may never know the whole truth, as the county's watchdog fights to keep details of his probe a secret.

A year after we questioned if deputy constables were being pressured to fund their bosses' campaigns, you can't help but notice that a lot of Victor Trevino's campaign funds this year still come from folks who owe him their jobs -- and one contribution really stood out.

A Precinct 4 deputy pulls over a car for speeding. The driver flashes a police ID.

"Who do you work with?" the officer asks.

"Constable," the driver replies.

The ID comes from Victor Trevino's office.

"Are you a deputy, a sworn deputy?" the officer asks.

"Yes I am," the driver replies.

Actually he was one of those Precinct 6 civilian liaisons. The guy didn't have an actual badge. But this guy did: It was discovered when the DEA arrested him for alleged involvement in a pill mill operation. The constable's explanation at the time:

"Constable Trevino never authorized and never would authorize the production, delivery of a badge to a community liaison," Trevino's attorney, Chip Lewis, said.

Later Trevino's lawyer told us a Precinct 6 corporal named J.W. Caldwell had the badge made and then just gave the guy a badge without approval.

"That's not a Walmart badge," we told Lewis.

"No it's not. It looks way too real and that's part of the constable's concern and I'm confident the district attorney is concerned also," Lewis said.

Caldwell is still on the Precinct 6 payroll with the same rank. And when we looked at Victor Trevino's latest campaign report, after his re-election, guess whose name is listed as one of his biggest political contributors he has? Yep, the corporal -- $1,500.

So went back to the constable's lawyer, quoting, "I do not view the contribution as payback. I view the contribution as someone who recognized the great service Constable Trevino has provided his constituents."

And in Victor Trevino's office, you apparently need a written policy to tell you that you can't make a badge and give it away, quoting, "As there were no previous guidelines re the badges, I am not certain it would have been proper to punish Caldwell."

Chip Lewis says Trevino was instructed by the county attorney's office to abstain from punishing anyone.

"Have you told the constable not to take action against any of his employees?" we asked Ryan.

"I have not," he replied.

Despite a year of revelations about Precinct 6, your watchdog says he hasn't even talked directly to Victor Trevino.

"I have not had a personal conversation with Constable Trevino about any of these matters. I purposely have our assistant county attorneys and investigators do one on one," Ryan said.

"The system itself is a system bred for corruption," Ted Lyon said.

Former State Sen. Ted Lyon has been a special prosecutor in Dallas County.

"I have had some political heat in Dallas," Lyon said.

Because he's done what we're done here -- investigate constables, except he did his work up in big D.

"The elected constables pressuring their employees to give them money in order to be able to play the game and that's just not right. It's corrupt," Lyon said. "It goes back to the days of Huey Long in Louisiana, where they had that little tin pot that you had to kick into the tin pot. That kind of political abuse has been around for a long time."

And your watchdog says he's seen no reason to try to remove Trevino from office.

"You ran as an ethics watchdog. Can you honestly sit here and tell me that Victor Trevino and these commanders -- Chief Lopez and the slush fund, Cpl. Caldwell giving out badges, charity checks, cash where no one knows where the money went -- could you honestly tell me that's not enough information for you to go to a court and say enough is enough?" we asked Ryan.

"Wayne, your headlines are not the rest of the story. We as the attorneys for Harris County government, we review the rest of story and it's always much more complex than the headlines you try to have every night on the news," he said.

But his opponent in November has seen enough in the documents the watchdog was forced to give us to make this choice.

"You would have moved to remove Victor Trevino, if you knew what we now know?" we asked Robert Talton.

"Yes," he replied.

We expect more testimony next week at the grand jury investigating Trevino. Regardless of the outcome, Vince Ryan's office holds the only written report of the constable's investigation and he's still keeping it secret from you.

On Friday night, Trevino posted the following statement on his Facebook page:

"This past Wednesday I cooperated with a grand jury. Due to legal reasons I cannot share the discussions inside these hearings, but I do want to express my gratitude to my family and friends for their unconditional support and love. The present challenges will not define who I am and will not change our accomplishments for the past 23 years. Please keep in mind that the media is in the entertainment business. It has been over a year since this turmoil began at Precinct 6, however, we have continued to make progress by moving ahead; and we will continue to progress with your recent 77% re-election votes. We have always strived to make your office at Precinct 6 a transparent one and will continue to move in that direction. There have been numerous changes at Precinct 6 and more positive changes are yet to come. I strongly believe there is room for improvement in any government agency and Precinct 6 is no exception to this rule. As always, I will continue to work toward maintaining a safer environment for the people of Harris County through crime prevention, enforcing the law and preserving the peace. I have always believed and will continue to support and promote Community involvement between our Law Enforcement Officers and our children, our elderly and all the people of this county. I will also continue to promote and support partnering with our businesses to improve the quality of life for our people of Harris County. I am humbled by your prayers and your overwhelming support. You have been there for me and my family for the past 37 years of my Law Enforcement career and I humbly thank you. Together We Will Continue The Progress."

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more 13 Undercover »

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Did police go too far in undercover Occupy mission?

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- When Occupy protesters chained themselves together with PVC pipes outside the Port of Houston in December, they might have expected to get arrested and perhaps even charged with misdemeanors for disturbing the peace, but they did not imagine getting felony charges.

That protest and those arrests led to an investigation involving Austin police officers who infiltrated the Occupy movement. They are accused of being part of the action that led to the charges.

The key question here: did Austin police officers go too far when they went undercover during the local protest?

Defense attorney Greg Gladden says they did, and the resulting charges are wrong.

"There is no probable cause to be charging these people with felonies for this free speech demonstrations," Gladden said.

Gladden represents Ronnie Garza, one of the protestors arrested that day and charged with an obscure law -- unlawful use of a criminal instrument. The law makes it a felony for someone to manufacture something for the sole purpose of committing a crime. The instruments in this case were "lockboxes" made of large PVC pipes and other materials.

After a little digging, Gladden discovered the alleged source of the human chains.

Three officers from Austin PD apparently went undercover during the Occupy the Port protest at the Port of Houston in December. Gladden says one of those officers -- Detective Shannon Dowell -- came up with the idea to have protestors chain themselves together using lockboxes.

"The police officers went and bought the material, manufactured what they're calling "sleeping dragons," also known as lockboxes."

When Garza and others agreed to chain themselves together in the street, they were arrested and charged. Now, Gladden is trying to get the charges dropped.

"I think the case needs to be dismissed for police misconduct because they were the ones that broke the law, and they entrapped all these young, idealistic kids," Gladden said.

We asked Austin police why undercover officers were at the protests.

"The primary mission of these officers was to protect the free speech activities of those engaged in lawful protest as well as initiating police response and action with regard to criminal activity," Austin PD Assistant Chief Sean Mannix said. "Plain clothes officers blending with the surroundings were necessary for the safety of the participants and the community as a whole."

Judge Joan Campbell dismissed charges against Garza once due to lack of evidence, but the case was sent back after a grand jury indicted him.

In a hearing last week, Det. Dowell, a narcotics officer, went before a Harris County judge and confirmed he was an embedded police officer during the Occupy movement. He also testified he had no interactions with local police or deputies while they were embedded with the Occupy protestors. The extent of his involvement in the lockbox plan is still up in the air.

Gladden thinks Austin police need to re-think their roles and duties on the streets.

"I think they ought to be out protecting the citizenry and preserving law and order," he said.

Austin police won't comment on the specifics of the ongoing criminal trial, but they say there's no internal investigation into the actions of the undercover officers.

The next court hearing is set for Wednesday.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Angleton High School students arrested in undercover drug bust

ANGLETON, TX (KTRK) -- Some parents waited at the Brazoria County Jail to take their teenaged children home. In all, 12 current and former Angleton High School students were arrested today after a months-long undercover investigation.

Investigators say the students sold drugs to that undercover officer -- prescription drugs like Oxycodone, Ritalin, Hydrocodone, as well as marijuana. Among those arrested are Dylan Paul Smilie, Jessica Lee Poteet, Lauren Chelsea Gore, Jose Dorbecker Jr., Jordan Ray Williams, Phillip Jones and Matthew Ryan Hubenak.

Four of the 12 suspects remained jailed Wednesday night.

"So do you have a prescription for Adderall?" we asked 17-year-old Dorbecker Jr. as he was leaving the Brazoria County Jail.

Dorbecker Jr. covered his head and didn't answer questions after his parents bonded him out of jail Wednesday night. Earlier, his mother told us he had a prescription for the amphetamine.

On Wednesday morning, he was arrested and charged with selling almost 5 grams of the stuff to an undercover officer.

"I was shocked because I usually don't see any drugs here," student Ryan Reyes said.

A total of 10 students were arrested here at Angleton High School. Brazoria County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested two former students at their homes. Seven out of the 12 are adults, and they include star football player Phillip Jones.

"Phillip got pulled out of my class," one student told Eyewitness News.

It was second period when authorities served the arrest warrants. He's known Jones since Little League.

"They're like, 'Sir you're under arrest for selling marijuana to our undercover officer,' which blew my mind," Angleton senior Brendan Starr said.

According to school officials, a recent student survey about alcohol and drugs, as well as their known prevalence, compelled them to seek help.

"Nothing we've done has made a significant difference and if you keep doing the same thing and nothing changes, there is something wrong with you," Angleton ISD Superintendent Patricia Montgomery said.

So they instituted mandatory drug testing for some students and placed an undercover officer in the school for four months.

"Had to do everything a student does, from homework to everything else," Angleton ISD Police Department Chief James "Chip" Gayle said.

He was also able to buy marijuana, officials say, as well as prescription painkillers and antidepressants. The students now facing charges are accused of selling and will likely be expelled.

"Go school board, go Angleton, it's been needing to come for a long time," parent Dean Lucas said.

"They could honesty get more people if they wanted to," Starr said.

A total of 28 charges were filed, ranging from delivery of a controlled substance to delivery of marijuana. In addition to the criminal charges, the students will face expulsion.

Out of the 100 random drug tests administered since October, five students have failed. The school district says it will continue to administer random drug testings and other methods to keep students on their toes.

Parents were sent a letter explaining what happened Wednesday.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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